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X-rays from Magnetically Channeled Winds of OB Stars David Cohen Swarthmore College with M. Gagné, S. St. Vincent, A. ud-Doula, S. Owocki, R. Townsend
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What can X-rays do for us? Identify embedded, active young OB stars Can they discriminate magnetic sources from non- magnetic ones? Diagnostics of the properties of the hot (>10 6 K) plasma in the extended atmospheres of magnetic OB stars (Somewhat) passive probe of cooler circumstellar material
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Outline Context 1 Ori C and the MCWS mechanism Other applications of MCWS and X-rays
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M17: ~0.5Myr 4’4’4’4’ softmediumhard courtesy M. Gagné
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Orion Nebula Cluster: ~1Myr 4’4’4’4’ softmediumhard dashed arrows point to very early B stars courtesy M. Gagné
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Tr 14: ~0.5 - 2 Myr 4’4’4’4’ softmediumhard courtesy M. Gagné
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NGC 6611: ~5Myr 7’7’7’7’ softmediumhard No hard sources courtesy M. Gagné
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What’s happened to the hard, variable O stars by 5 Myr?
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Let’s focus on one well-understood magnetic hot star: 1 Ori C
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Dipole magnetic field (> 1 kG) measured on 1 Ori C Magnetic field obliquity, ~ 45 o, inclination, i ~ 45 o Wade et al. (2006)
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Babel and Montmerle (1997a,b) Channeling, confinement, shock-heating Steady state? Cooling disk? Insights such as centrifugal acceleration
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Fortuitous access to all viewing angles of the magnetic field Note: slow rotation (centrifugal force negligible); field consistent with large-scale dipole Cartoon showing viewing angles of θ 1 Ori C for Chandra observations. Phase 0 is when the disk is viewed face-on (α=4 deg), while phase 0.5 occurs when the disk is viewed edge- on (α=87 deg)
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Rotational modulation of the X-ray emission simply from variation in the occultation of the x-ray emitting magnetosphere by the star To 1 st order: depth of eclipse depends on how close the shock-heated plasma is to the star
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0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 Simulation EM (10 56 cm -3 ) 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 θ 1 Ori C ACIS-I count rate (s -1 ) 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 Rotational phase (P=15.422 days) Chandra broadband count rate vs. rotational phase Model from MHD simulation
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Subsequent numerical MHD simulations by ud- Doula & Owocki (2002, etc.) Interplay between magnetic tension and wind kinetic energy – self-consistent field configuration Dynamical treatment (what happens as material accumulates at the tops of closed magnetic loops?) Complementary analyses: RRM, RFHD Aside: enhanced UV wind absorption at disk-on viewing angles rather than pole-on viewing angles
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2-D MHD simulation of 1 Ori C: density courtesy A. ud-Doula
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2-D MHD simulation of 1 Ori C: temperature courtesy A. ud-Doula
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2-D MHD simulation of 1 Ori C: speed courtesy A. ud-Doula
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Predictions from MHD simulations (and original analysis of Babel and Montmerle): 7 Strong shocks – plasma very hot (few 10 7 K) Post-shock plasma moving quite slowly (Doppler broadening of X-ray emission lines should be quite modest – will there be a dependence on viewing angle?) Bulk of hot plasma is in the closed field region (< Alfven radius; (r) < 1)
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Differential emission measure (temperature distribution) MHD simulation of 1 Ori C reproduces the observed differential emission measure Wojdowski & Schulz (2005)
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Pup (O4 If) Line profiles: resolved, but narrow 1 Ori C: Ne X Ly-alpha
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Distribution of X-ray line widths in 1 Ori C hotter lines: narrow, but resolved cooler lines: broad (LDI wind shocks) Gagné et al. (2005)
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z-axis (stellar radii) x-axis (stellar radii) -5 0 5 0 -5 5 EM per unit volume (1110 ks) Line profile (1110 ks) – tilt: 0 deg Line-of-Sight Velocity (km/s) -500 0 500 EM (cm -3 ) 0 2x10 54 4x10 54 6x10 54 8x10 54 1x10 55 Line profile (1110 ks) – tilt: 90 deg Line-of-Sight Velocity (km/s) -500 0 500 EM (cm -3 ) 0 2x10 54 4x10 54 6x10 54 8x10 54 1x10 55 MHD sims: HWHM ~ 200 km/s No viewing angle dependence
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There’s one more powerful x-ray spectral diagnostic that can provide useful information to test the wind-shock scenario: Certain x-ray line ratios provide information about the location of the x-ray emitting plasma Distance from the star via the line ratio’s sensitivity of helium-like f/i ratios to the local UV radiation field
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g.s. 1s 2 1 S 1s2s 3 S 1s2p 3 P 1s2p 1 P resonance (r) intercombination (i) forbidden (f) 10-20 eV 1-2 keV Helium-like ions (e.g. O +6, Ne +8, Mg +10, Si +12, S +14 ) – schematic energy level diagram
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The upper level of the forbidden line is very long lived – metastable (the transition is dipole-forbidden) g.s. 1s 2 1 S 1s2s 3 S 1s2p 3 P 1s2p 1 P resonance (r) intercombination (i) forbidden (f) 10-20 eV 1-2 keV
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1s2s 3 S 1s2p 3 P 1s2p 1 P resonance (r) intercombination (i) forbidden (f) g.s. 1s 2 1 S While an electron is sitting in the metastable 3 S level, an ultraviolet photon from the star’s photosphere can excite it to the 3 P level – this decreases the intensity of the forbidden line and increases the intensity of the intercombination line. UV
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1s2s 3 S 1s2p 3 P 1s2p 1 P resonance (r) intercombination (i) forbidden (f) g.s. 1s 2 1 S The f/i ratio is thus a diagnostic of the strength of the local UV radiation field. UV
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1s2s 3 S 1s2p 3 P 1s2p 1 P resonance (r) intercombination (i) forbidden (f) g.s. 1s 2 1 S If you know the UV intensity emitted from the star’s surface, it thus becomes a diagnostic of the distance that the x-ray emitting plasma is from the star’s surface. UV
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Model of f/i ratio dependence on dilution factor (radius)
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R I F helium-like magnesium Mg XI in 1 Ori C Single source radius assumed Data constrain: 1.0 < R fir < 2.1 R *
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R fir =1.2 R * R fir =4.0 R * R fir =2.1 R *
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He-like f/i ratios have the potential for discriminating MCWS from wind-wind sources – close to photosphere in the former case, not so much in the latter
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MHD with rotation revealed the potential for breakout- driven magnetic reconnection …source of x-ray flaring in Ori E (B2Vp)?
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MHD simulation of MCWS: higher magnetic confinement and rapid rotation Note, though: confinement parameter of Ori E is much higher than in this MHD simulation
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temperature
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Not much emission measure at very high temperatures from the reconnection (but maybe with larger confinement parameter?)
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Another application: slowly rotating magnetic B star with a more complex field – Scorpii (B0.2 V) MHD? RFHD? f/i ratios imply location of hot plasma between 2 and 3 R * … T ~ 20 MK – is there enough room in the closed field region for wind to accelerate to the required velocity? Rotational modulation? Donati et al. (2006)
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Conclusions Magnetic OB stars with strong, large-scale dipole fields have distinctive X-ray properties: High X-ray luminosities Hard emission Narrow lines Rotational modulation (if magnetic obliquity.ne. 0) Specific, quantitative diagnostics for studying MCWS (but only some utility for identification)
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Smaller scale magnetic structures…may have different effects on X-rays Centrifugally driven breakout and reconnection? But X-rays may not be very sensitive to it More…
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